Evolution
by Okoriwadsworth
Summary: How did Oliver Queen go from being the vicious vigilante the Hood to the noble Green Arrow? You're about to find out.


Evolution: What would happen if Superman got to Oliver Queen as soon as he started being the Hood to try and convince him to be better, only to discover someone else did already?

(Author's Note: This takes place in a world where Superman exists on Earth-1. I'm giving the job of being the exemplar of hope to the Tyler Hoechlin version, because he represents that to me more than Henry Cavill does. Also, this is the sequel to It Had Better Be Tonight. Enjoy!)

_**Five Years Ago in Metropolis…..**_

Evolution. That's the word. That's the idea, really.

Clark Kent had evolved since those first heady days as Superman, but the core principles remained the same. Rock-ribbed consistency to doing the right thing, being the example of what was good and decent to show and to remind people what goodness and decency could look like in their own lives, and standing for justice, those were the things he always believed in.

And if he was being honest, it was always a source of pride whenever he saw someone trying to do the same thing as he was doing. He was never going to judge their methods, because there were many different ways to get the job done. But, he supposed, as long as you weren't going above and beyond in your pursuit of it, anyone who wanted justice was going to be the least of his worries.

Which is why when he started hearing rumors about someone calling themselves the Hood running around through Starling City putting arrows in millionaires, and generally acting like some sort of Guy Fawkes come to life, he realized that he needed to have those views evolve. This couldn't be allowed to stand.

Superman, though, showing up in Starling City might intimidate the Hood into doing something rash, causing more people to get hurt that didn't need to. That couldn't be allowed to happen either. He needed a reason to go to Starling City, to confront the Hood

Then, in the financial section of the Daily Planet, he saw it. Big and bold, his worst nightmare came to life.

Lex Luthor, his former childhood friend now turned enemy, had decided apparently to put a bid in on a technology company in Starling City. Apparently, this "Queen Consolidated" had a lot of really interesting things in the pipeline, including quite a few high-level and heretofore unimagined weapons. This was a real problem. But, as he saw it, an opportunity formed.

He could kill two birds with one stone. He could prevent Lex Luthor from getting a weapon that could do serious damage, and see if he couldn't prevent this Hood guy from doing something he couldn't come back from.

_**Meanwhile, Five Years Ago in Starling City**_…..

Oliver Queen could admit to himself when he was wrong. It often was tinged with self-doubt and recrimination, but he could do it when he had to. And, as he woke up next to the love of his life, he realized that thinking they couldn't be together because of his night job was perhaps the most wrong that he had ever been.

He felt more focused now, more like himself. Hell, he might even take his mom up on that offer of joining Queen Consolidated now.

But before that? Before he did anything else, he wanted to do one thing that he had dreamt about doing since the day he fell on the island.

And so, hoping to god she didn't wake up before he was done, he got started on making the love of his life breakfast in bed. Omelet with onions, Canadian bacon, peppers, and spinach? Check. Homemade fresh fruit smoothie with strawberry protein powder? Check.

He was fully intending on doing this right. So, of course, when he got everything plated up like he wanted, he turned around and saw his true love sitting at her table drinking from a coffee mug and reading over amicus briefs. Kissing her on the back of the neck, Oliver moves the coffee mug out of the way and places the plate of food in front of her, smiling as her eyes widen.

"Ollie. Did you… Did you send out for this?" she asks warmly, looking at him with fondness in her eyes.

"You wound me, Ms. Lance. No, one of the things I learned how to do while I was away is how to cook. And on all those nights when times got hard, and I had to hold onto a memory to make it through until the next morning, I dreamt of this. I dreamt of being here, watching you work on briefs while I made you breakfast and we talked about our plans for the day. It was comfortable, when I didn't have any comfort at all" he said, and Laurel found herself swallowing hard to prevent her makeup from being ruined.

"So, let's start our days ok? I get the sense we're going to have busy ones."

_**Present Day…**_

Sometimes, when he's flying, Clark Kent thinks about how he met Oliver Queen and smiles. The image of it is still funny to him, and knowing how good his future wife has been for him only warms the smile. Today, though, he has to remain focused. After all, his friend is getting married and he is making sure that no one who would seek to do them harm is able to.

He gets the sense that, when the time comes that he is in the same boat, Ollie would do the same for him.

_**5 Years ago in Starling City…..**_

As he walked into the offices of Queen Consolidated, the panic in his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, Oliver Queen wonders what exactly he's getting himself into. If he was being honest with himself, he'd rather be facing an entire room of highly-trained ninja than have to deal with what he was dealing with at this moment.

But, he supposed, if he wanted to be worthy of Laurel, to be the man she deserved, this is what he would have to be. He would have to be someone who held down a steady job, someone who had changed and done so for the better. Thinking about it further, it actually worked out. He could easily convince his step-father Walter and Moira, and boy did that sound odd in his inner monologue, that he would work hours that were more flexible to ensure he could be out saving the city without fear anyone would know.

As he signed in, and waited for his meeting, his iPhone that Felicity had given him rang the ring tone to William Tell's Overture. Rolling his eyes goodnaturedly, he opened the phone to see that it was Laurel calling him.

"Hey, honey. What's up?" said Ollie warmly, sunshine coming out of his voice at being around the person who was that for him.

"Nothing much. First day back at work, and apparently everyone is endlessly amused by the idea that I could kick that high in heels. Also, did you know there's a bow-and-arrow emoji? Like, I can text you now with just that whenever we want to talk about your nighttime activities" bubbles Laurel, and he finds the laugh in his throat easily leaving at just how happy his sunshine appears to be.

"Alright, sunshine. I have to go now. The secretary at the front desk is giving me the evil-eye" he said, and the secretary really was glaring at him as though she wanted to run him through with a katana.

"Ok. When you get done, call me back. I have something I want to talk with you about."

And with that, Laurel hung up leaving a slightly bewildered Oliver Queen walking towards the elevator. That feeling only grows when the elevator door opens and out walks famous investigative journalist Clark Kent, standing tall and straight finishing typing down notes on a tablet that is quite obviously bleeding-edge technology.

"Hello, Mr. Kent. My name is…" says Oliver, reaching his hand out.

"Yes, Oliver Queen. I've heard of you. Actually, I have a question on an unrelated matter. Do you happen to know anything about this vigilante called the Hood? He seems to be going after those in your income bracket, so I just hope your security is well-handled" says an earnest Clark Kent, noticing idly that the man he's asking has an increased heart rate.

"No, Mr. Kent, I believe we're fine" says Oliver, wanting to get his meeting going before this reporter asks the right question at the right time to crack the shell he's been holding his secret identity under.

And with that, Oliver leaves to his meeting.

_**Meanwhile, five years ago across town…**_

Laurel Lance found that she needed something to DO. Ever since she found out her boyfriend, Oliver Queen, was the Arrow, she wanted to help him. The how was where she was stuck. She didn't think she could be a computer person on par with Felicity, or do clothing design and tactical planning like John Diggle. But she also knew she didn't want to just be the "girlfriend" keeping the home fires burning. She was not about to watch someone do something if she couldn't help them do it.

So there it was, she said. She was going to become a vigilante. Saying it, even in her own inner monologue, meant she couldn't go back on it now. She was not about to be one of those people who said they were going to do something, and then didn't do it.

Needing a push, though, she called John Diggle and explained her plan. Weirdly, he didn't yell like she thought he might. She guessed he knew this day was coming, and wanted to be useful to her like he had been useful to Oliver.

But, and this part was even weirder than not being yelled at for asking, he didn't invite her down to the bunker. Instead, he told her to go to the local branch of the Starling City public library and pick up books on multiple fight styles, and then set her up with an invite to a local Crossfit box run by a friend of his from the Army.

It dawned on her, then, that she was about to have far less free time than she imagined. But, she thought, if this was what it meant to be helping Oliver do what he was doing, it'd be ok. It'd be better than OK, actually.

She knew she couldn't mention this to him. He'd think it weird. But honestly, she found the concept of being a vigilante FUN.

_**Present Day…**_

Clark Kent wasn't one to mince words. He supposed that things would have gone worse than they could have if not for the Black Canary. And the notion that she had decided to do what she did, merely because she thought it was going to be fun, had always amused him. But Oliver Queen's reaction? THAT was proof he was a good man, and they became friends right after.

It was good too, because what he ended up doing to the future Green Arrow would have been a problem if they hadn't become friends.

_**Five Years Ago in Starling City…..**_

With the business with his mother taken care of, Oliver Queen did what he did most nights. He went hunting.

There was a billionaire fresh in town, some Lex Luthor guy, who had long been rumored to have had his hands in the sorts of things that would have put him on the List. So he went out looking for him.

Trouble was, when he got there, he noticed he wasn't alone. Superman was there. This was a complication he didn't necessarily need.

Nonetheless, he went forward with it. If he had to confront Superman, that would be something he'd deal with when the time came. This Luthor guy, though? He had to be handled right away.

His security was easy, really. He didn't waste arrows on any of them, because he didn't need to. Well-timed kicks and forearms did the job until he got to Luthor's penthouse.

It was when he got to the penthouse that he saw the problem. The people he had fought downstairs were just rent-a-cops, or easily bought thugs. The type no one would miss, with nowhere near the skill level that would be needed to test him.

The guys in the penthouse, though? Those guys were ex-Cuban Special Forces, trained for decades. This was going to be a lot more complicated. But eventually, using half of the trick arrows in his quiver and every last one of his flechettes, he got through them all and left every one alive. In pain, and unconscious, sure. But alive. He didn't think Laurel would want to talk to him again if she thought that he was killing people.

So by the time he made it to the roof, bow drawn and his last non-lethal arrow nocked, the situation that he found himself in was nothing like he had planned.

In the middle of the rooftop garden stood Lex Luthor, and to say he was surrounded was an insult to the word. On the left stood Superman, tall and straight like a redwood direct from the California forest. That didn't worry him.

What was on the right, though? THAT did.

Laurel was here. What in the high-key fuck was Laurel doing here? Sure, he had told her the secret. But he couldn't imagine, couldn't FATHOM, that she would want to be involved with it. And yet, here she was.

But as he thought about it more, he wasn't bothered. He loved her, and she him. So there could be no more secrets. If she wanted to join him in this, to be an equal part, she would be.

But the fine points of that would have to wait. Right now, there was an arrow with Lex Luthor's name on it. Sure, it wouldn't kill him but it'd hurt like hell until he could get into a hospital bed and have it removed.

But as the arrow flew, Superman did two things he could have never expected. First, he froze Lex Luthor's feet to the rooftop with what looked like freeze breath. That was…. That was new.

And then, almost in a blur, he grabbed the arrow that was flying towards him and caught it and snapped it in one motion. He then turned his attention to the archer wholly, only to blink and smile.

"Mr. Queen, would you like to explain to me why you are in this hooded outfit?" said Superman, his voice warm and kind as though he had some idea but wanted to hear it for himself.

"I made a promise to someone before they died. And until my last breath, I will fulfill it. Any price I have to pay I will pay it."

"Oliver, you don't have to do this. You can be better. You can be the hero I see you as. You don't need to be the Hood. You can be something better, something cleaner, something purer" begged Laurel Lance.

"If you need me to try, I'll try. So, if you don't mind, this is going to be the last time I wear this outfit, minus the hood. I honor those who taught me how to defend myself with this hood."

And with that, Oliver Queen removes the Hood outfit only to look befuddled as to how to keep the hood. Nodding his head, understanding what needs to e done, Superman carefully melts the stitches holding the hood to the rest of the outfit before handing the hood to Laurel.

"You know what's a good name? Green Arrow."


End file.
